Yesterday for FanGraphs, I was tasked to find the worst infields in baseball's history. Since I had the data, I just decided see which Royals infields were the best and worst over the years. The following is look look at the complete list and then some thoughts.
To get the list, I selected the player at first base, second base, shortstop and third base who played the most games at the position in each season. Then, I totaled their fWAR and ranked them by the value. Here are the results.
Rank | Season | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | Total fWAR |
1 | 1980 | Willie Aikens | Frank White | U L Washington | George Brett | 15.5 |
2 | 1982 | Willie Aikens | Frank White | U L Washington | George Brett | 14.2 |
3 | 1975 | John Mayberry | Cookie Rojas | Freddie Patek | George Brett | 13.4 |
4 | 1976 | John Mayberry | Frank White | Freddie Patek | George Brett | 12.9 |
5 | 1988 | George Brett | Frank White | Kurt Stillwell | Kevin Seitzer | 12.9 |
6 | 1977 | John Mayberry | Frank White | Freddie Patek | George Brett | 12.3 |
7 | 1971 | Gail Hopkins | Cookie Rojas | Freddie Patek | Paul Schaal | 12.2 |
8 | 1973 | John Mayberry | Cookie Rojas | Freddie Patek | Paul Schaal | 11.5 |
9 | 1985 | Steve Balboni | Frank White | Onix Concepcion | George Brett | 10.7 |
10 | 1972 | John Mayberry | Cookie Rojas | Freddie Patek | Paul Schaal | 10.4 |
11 | 1987 | George Brett | Frank White | Angel Salazar | Kevin Seitzer | 10.3 |
12 | 1978 | Pete LaCock | Frank White | Freddie Patek | George Brett | 10.1 |
13 | 1984 | Steve Balboni | Frank White | Onix Concepcion | Greg Pryor | 9.8 |
14 | 1997 | Jeff King | Jose Offerman | Jay Bell | Craig Paquette | 9.7 |
15 | 1983 | Willie Aikens | Frank White | U L Washington | George Brett | 9.5 |
16 | 1999 | Mike Sweeney | Carlos Febles | Rey Sanchez | Joe Randa | 9.4 |
17 | 1979 | Pete LaCock | Frank White | Freddie Patek | George Brett | 9.0 |
18 | 1986 | Steve Balboni | Frank White | Angel Salazar | George Brett | 8.9 |
19 | 1998 | Jeff King | Jose Offerman | Mendy Lopez | Dean Palmer | 8.4 |
20 | 1995 | Wally Joyner | Keith Lockhart | Greg Gagne | Gary Gaetti | 8.4 |
21 | 2000 | Mike Sweeney | Carlos Febles | Rey Sanchez | Joe Randa | 7.6 |
22 | 1989 | George Brett | Frank White | Kurt Stillwell | Kevin Seitzer | 7.4 |
23 | 1981 | Willie Aikens | Frank White | U L Washington | George Brett | 7.3 |
24 | 1990 | George Brett | Frank White | Kurt Stillwell | Kevin Seitzer | 7.2 |
25 | 2010 | Billy Butler | Mike Aviles | Yuniesky Betancourt | Wilson Betemit | 5.7 |
26 | 1992 | Wally Joyner | Keith Miller | David Howard | Gregg Jefferies | 5.6 |
27 | 2007 | Ross Gload | Mark Grudzielanek | Tony Pena | Alex Gordon | 5.5 |
28 | 2006 | Doug Mientkiewicz | Mark Grudzielanek | Angel Berroa | Mark Teahen | 5.3 |
29 | 1974 | John Mayberry | Cookie Rojas | Freddie Patek | George Brett | 5.2 |
30 | 2013 | Eric Hosmer | Chris Getz | Alcides Escobar | Mike Moustakas | 5.1 |
31 | 1994 | Wally Joyner | Jose Lind | Greg Gagne | Gary Gaetti | 5.0 |
32 | 2001 | Mike Sweeney | Carlos Febles | Angel Berroa | Joe Randa | 4.9 |
33 | 1996 | Jose Offerman | Keith Lockhart | David Howard | Joe Randa | 4.4 |
34 | 2003 | Ken Harvey | Desi Relaford | Angel Berroa | Joe Randa | 4.4 |
35 | 1993 | Wally Joyner | Jose Lind | Greg Gagne | Phil Hiatt | 4.0 |
36 | 2012 | Eric Hosmer | Chris Getz | Alcides Escobar | Mike Moustakas | 3.8 |
37 | 2002 | Mike Sweeney | Carlos Febles | Neifi Perez | Joe Randa | 3.4 |
38 | 1991 | Warren Cromartie | Terry Shumpert | Kurt Stillwell | Bill Pecota | 3.3 |
39 | 2011 | Eric Hosmer | Chris Getz | Alcides Escobar | Mike Moustakas | 3.3 |
40 | 1969 | Mike Fiore | Jerry Adair | Jackie Hernandez | Joe Foy | 2.7 |
41 | 2004 | Ken Harvey | Tony Graffanino | Angel Berroa | Joe Randa | 2.6 |
42 | 2009 | Billy Butler | Alberto Callaspo | Tony Pena | Mark Teahen | 2.3 |
43 | 1970 | Bob Oliver | Luis Alcaraz | Jackie Hernandez | Paul Schaal | 1.2 |
44 | 2008 | Ross Gload | Mark Grudzielanek | Tony Pena | Alex Gordon | 0.2 |
45 | 2005 | Matt Stairs | Ruben Gotay | Angel Berroa | Mark Teahen | -0.4 |
- The first non-George Brett led team (1971) came in at #7 with Paul Schaal (gotta love people with first and last names who rhyme) playing third base. Nine of the top twelve teams had Brett on them.
- The infield of Aikens, White, Mr. Toothpick and Brett showed up the most (four times).
- In the seven full season's since Dayton Moore has taken over as general manager, his infields have all ranked in the lower half.
2007: #27
2008: #44
2009: #42
2010: #25 (best infield of the group)
2011: #39
2012: #36
2013: #30
- The same infield of Homser, Getz, Escobar, and Moustakas have improved from 3.3 to 3.8 to 5.1 WAR over the past three season. See, players can always improve.
- One of my favorite "recent" infields, Sweeney, Febles, Sanchez and Randa, did make the top half twice. They were at #16 in 1999 and #21 in 2000.
- Some bad infields took the field in the mid-90's, but the 2005 version was the worst. Stairs, Gotay, Berroa and Teahen are barely backups, not alone starters. Maybe their suckitude was the reason for the negative total WAR.